


Tangled In A Spider's Web

by theeriinyes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, and Alecto is a manipulative child, and Barty Crouch gets taken along for a ride, in which Titus Mulciber is a right pompous arse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 18:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3739624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theeriinyes/pseuds/theeriinyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Barty Crouch Jr crept up, in that odd way of his,  to the podium with that wooden stool and unusual decrepit hat, he had only one house in mind. Slytherin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tangled In A Spider's Web

 When Barty Crouch Jr crept up, in that odd way of his,  to the podium with that wooden stool and unusual decrepit hat, he had only one house in mind. Slytherin. The House of the Pure. For isn’t that what the Crouch’s were? Pure? _Scared Twenty-Eight Barty, remember that you have a right to be there as much as any of them._ The words of his absent father resounding in his ear. All he could imagine was a proud smile on his father’s face for getting into Slytherin.  
  
He hauled himself onto the stool noticing the pitiful glance from the Professor holding the hat but ignored it. He was used to getting pitiful stares for his lanky body, his weird mannerisms and his crooked smile. Today, all of that would change, he’d finally be able to make his father proud. The thought of his namesake giving him a minute of his time would haunt Barty for the rest of his life. An attention seeking boy, they would call him. Especially when he was sorted into Hufflepuff.  
  
The cheers burst from the yellow and black table. Professor McGonagall nudged the little Hufflepuff off the stool – she wouldn’t dare say it out loud but she didn’t think she’d be able to handle the Crouch boy; it’s best that he’s under Pomena’s wing now – and watched as he crept into the seat at the end. McGonagall spared him only a few more seconds before her attention was stolen by the next child.  
  
The next day Barty stood in the owlery, his hands gripping a letter informing his parents, unsure if he wanted to tell them. He had failed his father yet again. He was a Hufflepuff. One of the leftovers. Barty scowled at the thought and viciously tore the letter into tiny pieces before stalking out of the owlery. The Slytherin twins from the train blinked their eyes at his scowling figure. Hands intertwined as they stood off to the side and watched the first year Hufflepuff grit his teeth and mumble about his father. They shared a look with each other –   _there’s more to that boy than meets the eye_ – before entering the owlery. They never truly forgot him.  
  
He receives the Howler five days after his sorting. The Howler is nothing compared to the sight of his overbearing father and his simpering mother – he loves her the most, but she isn’t a strong witch – standing outside the Headmaster’s office. The scowl on his father’s face makes him want to run the other way, but he’s no coward. The noise that his father makes in front of the Headmaster bothers Barty. He’s overbearing most days but today he’s domineering as he shouts about the Crouch legacy.  
  
_Anything but Hufflepuff isn’t it Father?_ Barty sneers – five days away from his parents and he’s picked up a thing or two from his new Slytherin friends – as he waits for his father’s anger to turn on him.  
  
But it never happens. His father spares him a millisecond glance before he’s directing his anger at the Headmaster again and demanding a resort. Barty blinks the disappointment away without a thought as waits to hear the outcome. Maybe this time he’ll be in Slytherin with the Carrow twins. But that doesn’t happen either. The hat’s decision is final to the dismay of his father’s twitching eye as he storms away. Barty hugs his sweet mother before she’s hurrying away at the demanding shout of his father. He won’t hate the man till later but that doesn’t stop him from disliking him in that moment.  
  
Barty spends most of his time in the Slytherin common room with the Twins. He hears the whispers of _who’s that boy with the Carrow twins_  or  _what a sad case that Crouch boy is._ He does not fit in with the Hufflepuff’s so he sticks with the Slytherins because at the very least they don’t stare at him pitifully. It’s through Alecto and Amycus – who sometimes seem to be adjoined at the hip – that Barty meets Regulus Black, Severus Snape and Titus Mulciber. There are many others whom he sees but he’s not given the privilege of meeting them.   
  
Barty prefers the Twins company more often than not, but Mulciber takes him aside one day to inform him that the Twins are a special sort. He inclines his head towards the third years who are curled up around one another as they doze in the hazy afternoon. So Barty finds himself spending time with Regulus Black who is probably the most well-mannered second year he knows. 

* * *

Narcissa Black is as haughty and terrifying as his House whispers about. She appraises him when he calls out for Alecto. The fourth year is missing her brother’s shadow but it does not seem to bother her when she’s surrounded by older Slytherins. Ones he’s seen but never introduced too. When the two girls walk over to him – Narcissa does not saunter like she’s stalking prey but rather walks with grace he’s never seen before –Alecto grins impishly at him. Narcissa calls him by his name and says  _Don’t let the Twins corrupt you too much Barty Crouch Jr._ He promises that he won’t, but there’s a glint in her eye that makes him think she doesn’t believe him.   
  
It’s in his third year that Barty picks up the habit of smoking. It’s a muggle thing that the Twins, Mulciber and the rest of the Slytherins mock him for. But Snape does it and Regulus just rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything. Snape barely acknowledges him when he asks to buy him a pack of the muggle cigarettes. He does it to garner his father’s attention; it hasn’t worked yet. But he smokes the cigarettes until he’s no longer coughing and he’s no longer doing it for his father.   
  
He hasn’t lost his odd way of walking but he’s doesn’t look so out of place when surrounded by his Slytherin friends.   
  
The summer after Fourth Year finds Barty alone. It’s not unusual as most of his friends are out gallivanting in their summer homes. The Carrows are in Germany. The Blacks in France with Narcissa’s sister’s new in-laws The Lestranges. The Mulcibers are in Spain. He’d consider visiting Snape if he didn’t think he’d be imposing. But this year, he’s completely alone. His mother stolen from him during the night and his father absent as always. Hatred has begun to sink into his heart as he dwells on the thoughts of his mother dying silently and alone. He hates his father for not telling him when she died, instead leaving him to find out when he arrived home.  _She’s dead son._  
  
The following September he creeps onto the train with his head hung low and his eyes glinting with uncontrollable anger. There are whispers of  _did you hear Barty Crouch Jr has gone mental_? The Carrows take one look at him – Seventh Years now but still attached to each other – and shuffle him into a compartment. They don’t ask questions and he tells them nothing. Mulciber marches into the seat next to him as he swears up and down about the state of the school. It’s nothing new. Mulciber’s always been rather verbose. Regulus peers into the compartment, sees Mulciber and immediately backs away. Barty wishes he’d take him with him.   
  
He’s a little worried about the Twins. They’ve been more secretive than usual this year, but Mulciber just waves his head dismissively as he tells him to go smoke his muggle things. Barty thinks that Mulciber knows something too. Regulus corners him mid-way through the second term and tells him  _You can get out of it now Barty. You have a choice._  The words confuse him for the rest of the term until he’s invited to the Carrow Manor by the Twins.   
  
Lord Voldemort is a man of intellect and Barty likes how he pays him attention. He’s unsure if it’s genuine attention, but he doesn’t give him a strange look when he walks into the room. It’s better than the rest of the world. He’s not offered a spot by the man but he’s told that the chance to prove his loyalty will come soon. Alecto smirks at him as if she knows something he doesn’t. She always knows something he doesn’t. And they spend the rest of the summer avoiding Hector Carrow and visiting other Slytherins that Barty has never seen before. Bellatrix Lestrange frightens him. She’s an immeasurable force. Power exudes her as she stares at him from beside her husband Rodolphus Lestrange. He merely ducks his eyes from her stare and edges closer to Alecto. He never truly feels as if he fits in.  

* * *

His sixth year is lonely. The Twins, Mulciber, and Snape are gone. Regulus is busy buried in the library trying to ace his NEWTS. Smartest kid Barty knew and he thought he’d fail. He never notices the bags underneath his eyes or the way his eyes flicker towards the Gryffindor table. So Barty finds himself alone at the Hufflepuff table. The year seems to pass by at a snails pace. He slips into class without a friend in sight as he stares at the clock on the wall and waits for the hour to be up. School has never been his forte nor his interest. His attention span is used quickly and classes are boring to his ever rapid mind. It’s this year that Barty realizes that even the Professor’s don’t really pay much attention to him. The thought burns into his skull. The seed grows into a sapling.   
  
Vivianna Burke sits herself across from him in the library. She greet’s Regulus with familiarity that should have caught his attention, but Barty has never been very observant of other people. But she stays even when Regulus leaves. He’s seen her around the Hufflepuff common room but he didn’t realize that she was in his year. He’s never cared about anyone that the Carrow Twins didn’t approve of. She’s pretty, sweet and pays attention to him. He occupies his time with her and Regulus throughout their Sixth Year. The year ends uneventfully and he promises to write Vivianna throughout the summer. But he never gets the chance to and he never goes back to Hogwarts.   
  
He never enters his home that summer. The Twins with Mulcier and Evan Rosier in toe accost him at Kings Cross. Alecto ambles over to him  in that captivating way of hers, presses her lips to his cheek and mumbles in his ear,  _Time to prove your worth Barty love._  He’s taken in hand by the eldest Carrow while the rest meander behind them. Barty glances behind them to see Regulus standing there with an inexplicable forlorn expression on his face. But he doesn’t think about it long. For the first time, he can feel his magic thundering through his body with excitement.

* * *

The Dark Lord informs him that at the end of the summer, he’ll be given a test to determine his worth in order to see whether he’s fit to be part of the Dark Lord’s army. A Death Eater. He savours the words on his tongue. Finally, a chance to be something. He can’t wait. Severus Snape becomes his mentor. He hadn’t realized that Snape was part of this elite group, but Snape ignores his mutterings as he instructs him on the first task.   
  
The nights are endless. He wonders what his father thinks. He wonders if his father even noticed that he didn’t come home. There are no letters from the man he’d always wanted more from. Still he can’t begin to worry when the thought of missing out on a day’s practice is at stake. It’s not as if his father cared about him. These are the words that he tells himself in the dead of night when he’s trying to pretend that this will all be worth it. It has to be worth it. Barty tumbles further away from what he used to know – he’s proud when Mulciber states in that pretentious voice of his,  _Look at you Barty, no longer a spineless Hufflepuff_ – as he pours over books and books within the Carrow Library. He’s never liked studying much but the Dark Arts lure him in like a tangled spiders web.   
  
The Impervious Curse catches his attention the most as he tests his skills on the small animals and insects found in the Carrows expansive backyard. His eyes glint with that same insanity that people saw the September after his mother’s death. Drunk off power as he watches the spiders dance for him and snickers with glee. He never notices how Alecto Carrow watches from the shadows with her brother in hand as they stare at their creation. He’ll never hear her words that she only shares with Amycus,  _It feels good to be right doesn’t it Amy? Little Barty Crouch Jr isn’t so little anymore._ Amycus presses a kiss to her temple as he nods and watches the flicker of joy on her face from her little manipulation.   
  
Barty sweats profusely on the day of his testing. If he fails, he’ll go back to Hogwarts with no recollection of his time here. He can’t go back now. He’s tasted power and he doesn’t think he can give it up. Too long people have overlooked him but no longer. Barty Crouch Jr. passes his test and swears loyalty to the Dark Lord. He’s a Hufflepuff after all. His loyalty to the Dark Lord will surpass the rest of them. His loyalty will be untarnished by self-preservation. Screams of agony spill from his lips when the mark is burned into his skin. Endless hours of pain that ends up with him cackling with laughter. The Dark Lord looks on amused as Barty Crouch Jr cradles his arm and thanks him for the opportunity.   
  
The next night, Barty steals the Twins away from the Manor. He has something to do. The hatred has festered tireless inside of him – twisting his heart into an ugly mess – and he’s going to make his father suffer like he suffered all his life. Bartemius Crouch Sr. cries out in pain as his son manipulates his body. He’s not strong enough to fight the curse. Alecto offers to obliviate his father but Barty just looks at him and states with confidence,  _You won’t go telling anyone will you father? Too proud to admit that your son became a filthy Death Eater. Keep this hush father and maybe the Dark Lord will help you rise the ranks in the Ministry._ His father agrees with tears streaming down his face and his body bruised and broken. Barty smirks at him and knocks him out with a single curse before following the Twins out of his house. He’ll never step inside again.  
  
Finally his father acknowledges him, now to make sure the rest of the world doesn’t forget it.  

**Author's Note:**

> A look into Barty's life at Hogwarts. This is just my interpretation of Barty Crouch Jr. I've always adored the idea of him being in Hufflepuff and what were the events in his life that led him to becoming a Death Eater. There's also an assortment of pureblood characters in the story. The beginning of a series on the purebloods during the Marauders Era.


End file.
